Participatory Framework for Urban Pluvial Flood Modeling in the Digital Twin Era

The recent surge in digital twin technology, which creates virtual replicas of real-world processes, offers an interactive testbed for understanding and predicting environmental changes. Globally, as urban areas face increasing extreme heavy rainfalls and the resulting pluvial floods caused by inadequate drainage systems, collaboration between governments and local residents becomes crucial in managing flood risks. This paper develops a participatory framework for urban pluvial flood modeling, incorporating open source software, virtual reality, minimum viable product, and gamification aspects. This framework engages citizens in every phase of the process, from input data preparation and hydrological model construction to model verification and experiments, leveraging local knowledge and collective action. This paper presents a case study on the recurring pluvial flood damages in South Korea's Gangnam region, demonstrating the practical implications of an interactive, web-based crowdsourcing platform to facilitate citizen participation. The results underscore the evidence of a proactive role for citizens, not merely as recipients of disaster information but as key contributors collaborating with a range of stakeholders in flood modeling and stormwater management. By integrating digital twin technology with community engagement, we can foster informed decision-making and spontaneous participation in the evolving digital era, leading to a disaster-resilient community.